College Football Betting: Three Things To Know Heading Into Week 9 of the 2022 Season

Well, for the first time all year, I don't have much to say. It was largely an uneventful Week 8 for us as far as shocking results or headlines, though I will admit seeing Bo Nix play well in an important game was one of the most unexpected things I’ve witnessed in a long time. But, despite Clemson’s best efforts, pretty much everything went according to script and very little was taken off the table for the Playoff aside from an Ole Miss team that was always destined to lose at some point.

Because of that, I think the only thing for us to do is look ahead rather than look back. I could drone on by restating the first paragraph in a few different ways to fill lines and space, but we can just skip ahead and get to our headlines this week. Time for three things to know!

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1. Everybody Wave Goodbye To The Pac-12

As both a writer and a gambler, I pride myself on being open and honest about what I’m thinking. It creates a more interesting and trustworthy body of work in my opinion, and it puts any bias at the forefront rather than hiding behind some veil of neutrality that nobody actually has.

So, rather than pretend, I’ll just admit that I’ve never been particularly fond of the Pac-12. I’m not sure if it’s Bill Walton’s incessant droning about the “Conference of Champions” or the overblown expectations for programs like USC or even the late night games that finish well past my bedtime, but I generally celebrate the inevitable downfall of the conference in football every year. And, while it’s actually a bit later in the calendar than usual, UCLA’s loss to Oregon was probably the last nail in the coffin.

Sure, if chaos ensues there’s a small chance that some half assed team like Oregon could somehow slip their way into the conversation, so never say never. But barring very extreme circumstances compounded by very poor decision making (or Nike slipping the right people some money to give the Ducks a boost) this is the end of the Pac-12. Au Revoir, it was nice knowing you.

MORE: College Football Week 8 Predictions

2. Nobody Is Touching The SEC

This isn’t exactly a novel or insightful statement, but the biggest takeaway for me from last weekend was that there isn’t a team outside the Southeastern Conference who can win the National Championship. I honestly think the best teams in the country are UGA, Tennessee and Alabama, and programs like Kentucky, Ole Miss and LSU may be just as competitive as Ohio State, Clemson and Michigan.

It’s hard to say much negative about Michigan at the moment, especially since they didn’t play last weekend, but this team is no different or better than the unit that got manhandled by UGA last year and I highly doubt they could hold up against any real SEC program. Ohio State, for their part, made things look a lot better by the final whistle, but CJ Stroud clearly struggles against real defenses and their red-zone offense in the first half was the stuff of nightmares. And Clemson? Where to even begin with that disaster of a team (probably with the QB position, which is always a fun place to have issues eight weeks into the season).

At most, the SEC will find its way of getting two teams into the Playoff, but we shouldn’t let that trick us into believing that it’s reflective of who the four best teams in the country are. It’s just a way to make some money on a tune-up game before one of those big SEC teams lifts the trophy.

MORE: Best Bets to win the 2022-23 National Championship

3. Flavor Of The Week: Trap Games

My first skim through a week of football games usually involves picking out the big matchups and games I know I absolutely HAVE TO WATCH. But with only three matchups between ranked teams, only one of which has a single digit spread, this isn’t a slate that really grabs your eye.

A closer look, however, tells me that things might not be so simple. Ohio State has to travel to College Station which is never an easy endeavor, the neutral site UGA-UF game is liable to be crazy, and even teams like Tennessee and Michigan need to have their wits about them for tricky matchups that could cause issues if they overlook them.

Right now almost feels like the calm before the storm as we enter our last weekend before November, and that could still be true. Rivalry games and conference championships are on our doorstep and it’s easy to look ahead. But something tells me we may see one or two surprising results as teams look forward a little too early and forget that every game counts the same for their record.